Man faces many charges following Milford rampage

MILFORD — A local man is being held on $50,000 cash bail pending a competency hearing after he allegedly went on a rampage lighting fires, slashing tires and threatening a store clerk with a knife.

On February 26, just before 6 a.m., police were called to the Cumberland Farms on Nashua Street to respond to a report that a man was threatening people in the parking lot with a knife.

According to Capt. Chris Nervik, James Frye, 51, of 102 High Street in Milford threatened the store clerk by swinging a utility knife at her and damaged her car before leaving the scene.

Officer Dana Johnson was able to locate Frye on Bridge Street, and when the officer approached him, Frye dropped several knives, including a utility knife and two butter knives, according to an arrest affidavit on file at Milford District Court. Frye said he was looking for heroin “and asked Officer Johnson if he had any,” the affidavit said.

As the investigation continued, the affidavit said, it was discovered that nine vehicles including the one belonging to the store clerk were damaged that same morning.

At the parking lot of the Cumberland Farms, Frye slashed the clerk’s tires and smashed the taillights of her car, said the affidavit. The eight other vehicles, all of which had slashed tires, were parked outside the apartment building where Frye lives on High Street.

When officers entered the building they discovered that the mailbox in the vestibule had been set on fire. Upon entering Frye’s apartment, police found that a fire had been set on the coffee table in his living room but had burned itself out without spreading throughout the apartment, the affidavit said.

The officers also discovered that the broiler inside the stove in Frye’s kitchen had been left on, and inside the stove they found drug paraphernalia containing evidence of heroin and marijuana, the affidavit said.

Frye has been charged with five class B felonies, including two counts of arson, criminal threatening, criminal mischief and possession of a controlled narcotic. He is also facing nine class A misdemeanors for the slashed tires on the eight vehicles in the parking lot of his building and the damage done to the store clerk’s car.

In addition, a 10th charge of possession of marijuana, a class B misdemeanor, has been leveled against Frye, according to court documents.

Frye was held on $50,000 cash bail and was scheduled to be arraigned in Milford District Court on Wednesday. Judge Martha Crocker agreed, however, to a motion by Frye’s public defender to have Frye evaluated to determine whether he’s mentally competent to understand the legal process. In the meantime, the case has been continued and Frye will remain held on $50,000 cash bail.